Upon seeing the Apple announcement in late 2023 promoting the top titles of the year from Apple Books, along with a new Year in Review feature, I likely had the same thought that many did: “Apple still cares about selling ebooks?”
To be fair, you can’t blame the company for being gun-shy. Ten years ago, Apple found itself in the crosshairs of a Department of Justice investigation over price-fixing ebooks, and the fallout of that case not only impacted Apple’s existing foray into ebooks, but also likely cooled any fervor it had for competing in the market in the future.
Unfortunately, that case also ended up solidifying the dominance of the market’s biggest player, Amazon. So a decade on, could Apple still mount an effective challenge to that behemoth? Maybe. But not only would it have to be present,
